Swivel-up dispensing packages have been used to dispense cosmetic cream products to the axillae of the user. Typically, the product is moved to the outer end by manually turning a hand wheel, which drives a feed screw and, in turn, an elevator. Moving the elevator into the product pressurizes it, causing the product to be extruded through the orifice onto the applicating surface.
An undesirable side effect of this type of dispensing package which occurs when cream products are used, is that after the product has been dispensed, residual pressure within the product in the dispenser causes the product to weep onto the applicating surface for a period of time after the user has ceased dispensing. Depending upon the material properties of the cream product contained in the dispensing package, separation may occur and individual components of the cream product could spread onto the applicating surface. Either occurrence results in a soiled and undesirable appearance of the applicating surface. Furthermore, after the product, or its components, has weeped onto the applicating surface, the product, or its components, may spread to the container body and soil the hands of the user.
One approach to relieving the residual pressure on the product is to use a spring which urges the elevator away from the product. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,938 issued to Kayser on Nov. 2, 1982, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,407, issued to Finnegan on July 24, 1984 show caulking guns where a spring is used to push the ratchet bar away from the dispensed product. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,730 issued to Spatz on Sept. 4, 1973, this concept is applied to a dispenser having a feed screw, where a spring retracts the follower by reversing the rotation of the o feed screw. One problem inherent with this approach is the unpredictability of the amount of retraction which will occur. Variations in the amount of product dispensed, system friction, extension of the spring, etc. will cause the variations in the amount of residual pressure remaining on the product. This dispensing package provides no assurance as to how much the driven member will be retracted, or whether the amount of retraction which does occur will be enough, or too much, for a given cream product.
Furthermore, dispensers presently used normally extrude cosmetic cream products at a uniform rate as the consumer turns the hand wheel to advance the elevator. When the product is dispensed at a uniform rate, the user may not be able to visually judge the proper amount of deodorant or antiperspirant which should be applied to each underarm, much less dispense this amount on an ephemeral basis with any degree of precision. Applying too much deodorant results in product waste and staining of clothes, while applying too little deodorant prevents efficacious results from being obtained. Furthermore, when too much product is used at one time, excess product will remain on the applicating surface creating a soiled and messy appearance